Page 29 of The Alpha

“That’s it, big guy. You have to eat. I’m counting on you to break us out of here.” She cocked her head as he chewed. “Can you… talk?”

He didn’t say a word. Instead he kept staring at her with those beautiful blue eyes of his with such intensity, she thought she might faint. His eyes said it all. He wanted her. Not like in a sexual way. No, this was more of a,I’ve been searching for you all my life and finally found you,way. It made her chest warm and sent tingles up her spine.

He wolfed down his food, then twisted the cap off the water bottle with his teeth and drained it. That done, his eyes darted to her own bottle, and he frowned.

“What?”

He looked at her, then the bottle still sitting on her bed.

“Oh, you think I’m thirsty?” Pari looked at their hands. “I’ll have to get up to grab my water. But only for a few seconds. Don’t freak out, okay?”

He looked at their hands at the wall but made no other move.

Pari slowly got to her feet, doing her best to keep her hand at the wall, and tried to reach for her water bottle with her other hand. “Nope, not going to work.” She used her left hand, breaking contact with the wall, and grabbed her water. At least he didn’t freak out this time.

She sat again, bottle in hand and opened it. No sooner than she did he put his hand to the wall again with a loudthump.

Pari held up a finger as she drank. She was thirstier than she thought. She didn’t drain it though and screwed the cap back on. Who knew when they’d give her more?

He slapped his hand against the wall again and gave her an impatient look.

“Okay, okay.” She got comfortable and put her hand against his. “There, happy?”

He sat, his eyes still a brilliant blue, and cocked his head, studying her.

Pari ran her free hand over her head. “I know I’m not much to look at. In fact, you’d better not judge other human females off me.”

His head tilted the other way as he took her in, his eyes going to her hair. They narrowed.

“They cut it,” she blurted. “Jeffrey’s friends. It was… horrible and scary, and…” Good grief, she wasn’t going to cry, was she? But then, she had been drugged, kidnapped, strapped to an examination table and recently told she might be killed tomorrow, so she had a good excuse, right?

She looked at the man on the other side of the wall and let the tears fall. “I’m sorry, I… I can’t help it.”

He slapped his other hand against the wall and got to his knees. The look on his face was beyond desperation.

Pari stared at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she said through her tears. “L-like…y-y-you care.”

He pressed his forehead against the wall.

Pari stared at him, and not knowing what else to do, got to her knees, and mimicked his position. He was so much taller than her, even on his knees, that he had to lower himself down to put his forehead against hers.

He kept looking at her for a moment or two, then closed his eyes.

She closed hers too, not knowing what else to do, and to her surprise, she was comforted by his actions. He… he was trying to comfort her! But why?

She was nothing special. Not like him. And once the doctor and his cohorts figured it out, they’d kill her. She might have only hours to live, with no chance of escape. What was she going to do other than cry?

Pari didn’t know how much time passed. Nor did she remember slumping to the floor and falling asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was facing the wall, one hand still against it. The slumbering alien was facing her, one hand at the wall against hers. She smiled. How long had they been like this?

She should move, see if anyone was in the lab, but didn’t want to disturb him. She also didn’t want to put that desperate look in his eyes again. He’d looked so… so… agonized. But why? What reason did he have for wanting to be so close to her? She just didn’t get it.

Pari noticed the lights in the lab were still dimmed and could only assume it was nighttime. Why else would they have left the two of them alone?

No one had come to check on them, and no one had tried to administer the alien a sedative. Were they really going to allow him to become fully awake? Somehow, she didn’t think so but wasn’t sure how to warn him. He must not speak English. He still hadn’t said anything.

Pari lay there studying him. He was, in a word, beautiful. And as Dr. Charles put it, magnificent. His face was like something Michaelangelo had carved. A Greek god of… well, something.

She frowned. “What’s with the fangs?” she whispered to herself. Good grief, he wasn’t a vampire, was he?”

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